Rahn catches sight of the old man as he enters the common room. As the man makes he way over the group, Rahn motions to the others that they have company. The old man introduces himself and Rahn listens quietly as the old man explains the situation.

"Teiflings. Hmmm." Rahn comments, "What troublesome scoundrels." Taking a drink of his ale, Rahn then asks, "We were discussing the quest that Kaedyn had mentioned. Was your divination able to give any rough idea of numbers? And anything you can tells about the area of the ambush?"

Jael Darrenson bows his head and spreads his arms out in supplication, "With divination, we focused our energies on the Patriarch himself and the location of the sword. The squire likely fell with his liege, giving his life before allowing Sir Roderic to perish. Therefore, we don't expect to find him alive either. Recovering Sir Roderic's and his squire's bodies would be appreciated, but our priority is the recovery of sword and what it symbolizes."

Straightening, the padre strokes his graying beard and replies, "We only have conjecture about the location of the ambush itself, more than likely along the road outside the city. And it seems those creatures appeared to be purposely seeking out the patriarch since it would not have been a case of simple banditry. Sir Roderic, by all appearances, would have looked only like a traveling knight not some rich merchant, and definitely not an easy target. It is believed that they must have either wanted to assassinate him or they want our holy sword for some nefarious purpose."

"We do have an idea where these raiders are camped however, we fear that they might not stay there much longer if capturing the sword were their true purpose. Normally, we would have tried to handle this on our own, but time is short and we could not wait for the experienced paladins and knights to return to Callenburg to recover the holy relic. The few novices we have would likely get killed for naught."

"They are using an abandoned, run-down keep not too far outside the city. We don't have a clear idea of how many there are, but that's why we sent Kaedyn to find plenty of experienced heroes for such a task. Since they are dangerously close to the city, it is believed that they will move on fairly soon before the city mobilizes a force to go after them. Particularly if the think the knights are mustering as well."

Jael provides directions on how to find the ruined keep. It is on a small rise in a lightly wooded area about 2-3 hours walk from the city gates. If you leave within the next half hour, you should be able to get there and back before nightfall.

The priest also offers, "Our church will gladly provide our prayers of healing when you return to the city and while you are working in our service. We are also offering you 1000 gold coins as reward when you return the holy sword."

OOC: Sorry, forgot about the timing issue so for those in Group C it must be a day later to allow for the shopping and such to be completed already. I threw a lot at you in these last two posts, but I think it is time to get cracking on it.

"What nefarious purpose do ya think they need yer holy sword for?", Gothrom asks gruffly, once the priest is finished. He remains standing despite Raddick politely offering him a seat; he prefers to stand, in the company of humans. It makes him feel taller. "Does it got powers that could be used for evil?"

Inwardly, Gothrom takes note of the size and length of the old human's grey beard. Finally, a human with style.

Father Jael Darrenson is almost apologetic, "We know naught of any ritual or specific purpose that the holy relic could be used for. Outside of being a finely crafted weapon, it holds no specific enchantment of itself."

Contemplatively, the padre strokes his graying beard some more and considers aloud, "In fact the merchant value of the sword itself is no more than that of any other masterly crafted sword, not unlike the fine weapons if see adorning your persons."

"It has mostly religious significance to us and as Patriarch, Sir Roderic wielded it while developing a holy bond. In his hands alone it had significant divine powers, but even another paladin would not be able to use them without similarly binding the weapon, supplanting Sir Roderic's bond. I suppose the essence remains and perhaps some agents of evil could use it as an ingredient in a certain type of conjuring that would require something of the holy relic's nature to be destroyed in the process. But such rituals are beyond the ken of our church."

Rahn agrees with the scout, "Indeed. That kind of relic in evil hands is not a good thing." Rahn then turns to the old man as he stands up, "We'll have that sword back to as well as the remains of the paladin and his squire if they can be found. This I swear."

Rahn says to the others, "I'm going to gather up my gear. Meet back here shortly?"

"Aye! And we'll bring you a few thiefling heads along with that!", Gothrom loudly adds to Rahn's promise. In truth, he cares neither about the bones of the dead paladin nor the church's useless relic, but the reward is generous and he is itching to put his new waraxe to use.

Hearing Phaeral's proposal to the man named Raddick, Gothrom guffaws aloud. "Yer gonna be hard-pressed to replace her by yerself", he tells Raddick, winking to take some of the seriousness from his words, although he does mean them. "There may have only been half of her, but I've never known a human to be half as fierce on the battlefield!"

Father Jael Darrenson bows his head in respect and prepares to leave, "Thank you for agreeing to help us. When you return, please come to the Chapter House of Heironeous. We will be waiting for your successful return."

If there are no further questions, the padre departs and heads out the door.

Raddick toasts the two men and the dwarf, "Happy I am to help in this endeavor. I have fought along side that whirling dervish halfling, so I know what you mean. However, I am pretty skilled myself, but perhaps not as reckless being more of a tactician. Besides, someone has to protect my gal here." He indicates the attractive redhead, pretending to be coy and shy from across the table.

"I am ready to leave when you are."

SSFFFT!! The German Shepard that was napping by the fireplace perks its ears up and yawns. Then it gets to its feat and pads over to Raddick and puts both front paws on his leg to get his head up to look around the table. He starts lapping up ale from the fighter's mug.

Giving the dog a scratch behind the ears, Raddick introduces the dog, "This is Fido, he can come with and help sniff out the bastards and stand guard."

In offering her opinion, she says, "Well, Raddick is no Brunhilde, but he does pretty well, even after being tossed out of a balcony. I just need to collect my chain shirt on the way. I had a wizard imbue it with some protection magic to make it stronger. By the way, what's a tiefling? Anyone know?"

Raddick stands up as well and follows her out, making to put and armored arm around Ashleigh's shoulders to properly escort her, but changes his mind when stops to think about it. Too heavy and rough on a woman's delicate skin.

"Come on Fido. See you gents later, I will accompany the lady and makes sure she is not accosted by unwanted suitors."